Under pressure from regulators, San Diego cracks down on water pollution from construction sites

Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune

A tractor is used to open the mouth of Los Peñasquitos Lagoon at the beach under the North Torrey Pines Road bridge. The city of San Diego has dedicated money to unclog the area of sand as part of a settlement agreement with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.

A tractor is used to open the mouth of Los Peñasquitos Lagoon at the beach under the North Torrey Pines Road bridge. The city of San Diego has dedicated money to unclog the area of sand as part of a settlement agreement with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. (Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Developers in the city of San Diego are facing tougher government enforcement at construction sites that have the potential to pollute rivers and streams — including fines and even stop-work orders.

That’s the result of a settlement San Diego officials entered into with water quality regulators that will require the city to pay $3.2 million and step up policing of development.

The agreement was reached after the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board brought a civil liability complaint against the city for alleged violations of its stormwater permit last year.

Some contractors, for years, performed little to no erosion control at job sites even when city inspectors identified problems, according to a multi-year investigation by the board. Without proper precautions, sediment laced with chemicals and metals at such locations can wash into storm drains during downpours, clogging and polluting waterways.

Local officials pledged to continue recently ramped-up enforcement efforts, as well as spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on restoration projects at the San Diego River, Los Peñasquitos Lagoon and Chollas Creek.

“Water quality is of utmost importance to the city of San Diego,” Assistant Chief Operating Officer Stacey LoMedico told the board Wednesday at a public hearing. “As a coastal city that continues to grow, we will evolve and realize that our potential effects of development and construction have a profound impact on the environment, and thus, economy and the quality of life.”

Starting in 2010, investigators with the water board found numerous construction sites with unstable earthen embankments and little erosion control. While city inspectors had sometimes citied developers for the violations, enforcement efforts were limited to the notices.

“The city had inspected the site just days before, yet erosion and sediment control were clearly not in conformance with the city’s stormwater standards,” Rebecca Stewart, a sanitary engineer in the compliance unit for the regional water board, said at the water board meeting.

The issues persisted through 2014 despite repeated notifications by the water board to the city. That year, the board did an audit of the city departments that do construction stormwater inspections.

Investigators found that developers were not subject to escalating fines by the city, and said the municipal enforcement division was understaffed, with some employees unaware of the basic stormwater requirements for construction sites.

As part of the settlement agreement, city officials said that as of last fall they have rolled out a new enforcement protocol that includes fines and the ability to stop construction if a developer is repeatedly out of compliance. The city as also said that contractors that repeatedly violate stormwater regulations will be barred from bidding on city contracts.

Board member Tomás Morales applauded the new tougher rules. “The sooner you can get to the stop-work, the sooner you’re going to get compliance,” he said at the meeting. “That will be your most effective tool because otherwise it becomes a simple business decision for them.”

The city has become a lot stricter in recent months with its stormwater rules for construction sites, said Michael McSweeney, public policy advisor for the Building Industry Association of San Diego County.

“They’re looking at things much more closely,” he said. “The rules are there. I think in the past there may of have been some misunderstanding (by the building industry) of what the rules are.”

As part of the settlement, the city will pay more than $1.6 million to the State Water Resources Control Board Cleanup and Abatement Account. In addition, it will spend an equal amount on several environmental projects.

Under its settlement agreement with the regional water board, the city has pledged to conduct several water-quality improvement projects including:

$630,000 for restoration of the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon. This project aims to restore the waterway’s historic salt marsh character by removing sand sediment that has clogged the inlet to the ocean. The city has routinely had to excavate the area to improve water quality and limit flooding in the area. The project is expected to be completed in 2021.

$225,000 for improvements on the San Diego River. The project includes removal of invasive species and trash to improve water quality and flood control. The efforts will also focus on clearing out areas that could be used by homeless encampments and planting native vegetation. Efforts are slated to run through 2020.

$72,400 to help restore section of Chollas Creek. The project is expected to build on current community effort to identify sites for habitat restoration and neighborhood beatification in the watershed. The city is required to cap the amount of bacteria, metals and the insecticide diazinon of the water body, which is state and federally recognized as impaired. The targeted effort is scheduled through 2018.

$682,932 for a bio-assessment tool to prioritize areas for future water-quality projects. The city in collaboration with the California Department of Parks and Recreation plan to create a protocol for analyzing existing water quality data and identifying the most cost effective strategies for improving water quality. Officials anticipate other municipalities could use the assessment tool once it’s finalized in 2020.